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So it's late, I'm tired and in that location / position I was last night (this is the only decent place to sit within reach of an outlet on this floor), and while today was OMG FUCKING SUPER AMAZING SPECIAL COOL, I never finished my story last night about the past two days. As such, I am going to try to do that, and maybe while I'm at the airport tomorrow I'll post about today's outing.
SO! As I said, that morning went surprisingly well. Money was obtained, and the room was finally paid for in full. With very little time left, I made my way down to the CalTrain station to catch the southbound train, but encountered a slight problem upon my arrival: Only certain ticket kiosks sold day passes, and none of them accepted $10 bills. (This was a problem because the ticket I needed cost $13.) I asked the local establishments if they could break the bill, but none of them could without a purchase. Digging around in my pockets, I was able to scrounge up the change to buy a can of soda, quite luckily for me.
Ticket in-hand, I boarded the train and prepared for an hour-long ride to the San Antonio stop just outside Mountain View. The ride itself was pretty uneventful, except of course for the sights outside. I could write a book about how beautiful it all was, but I shall not. Sufficed to say, the region near the train tracks, at least south of San Fran proper, is kept quite clean. Additionally, I was surprised by all the companies I recognized on the way: While I cannot recall all of them, I do remember seeing VWR (A chemical distribution company) and Mondo Films. I assure you, it was quite stunning overall.
Upon arrival at my stop, I got off and crossed the tracks; while it was only 11:11am and my interview was not until 1pm, I wanted to at least make sure I could get to the area in time. The first thing I noticed about the path I had chosen was the astonishing number of "No Tresspassing" signs. While their placement made it obvious they referred to the buildings themselves, it was still unnerving. Upon closer inspection, I discovered why they were there: I had accidentally stumbled upon Hewlett-Packard's Mountain View offices. Amused, I continued my trek through an absolutely gorgeous suburban neighborhood, and finally out onto Rengstorff Avenue.
This road was about how I expected it, so there really weren't any surprises. The walk was long, but eventually I made it to the office wherein the interview was to take place, something like an hour before necessary. Knowing exactly how I wanted to spend that time, I first crossed Highway 101 and marched onto Google campus. Initially, my plan here only involved getting a picture of the place - yes, I was deliberately being a tourist - but then got a better idea. Being dressed as I was for the interview, I decided instread to take some video footage. See, I had opted to wear my SGI shirt; as such, the situation lent itself to some humor, at least in my mind.
Upon crossing back over, I noticed I was rather hungry; however, living on food stamps as I was/am, I needed to find a grocery or a Walgreens or something. I searched around the few city blocks I could in the time I had, but nothing could be found. I returned to the office hungry but nervous enough to cancel that out.
The entire office had stepped out for lunch, however, so I got to wait in front for them to get back. There was also the issue that some brand new road construction had been blocking the driveway, meaning they had all been forced to park next door. Still, they arrived on short order and the interview began.
I will not go too far into the details of the interview, as such would be unnecessary and probably rude; however, I will say that it went spectacularly. Everyone who interviewed me - including the CEO - was quite impressed by my answers. I could not answer everything, admittedly, but everything I did answer, which was most everything, was answered quite well. Their network guy was especially impressed by my knowledge of practices involving the wiring and maintenance of dedicated internet servers.
At the end, the CEO informed me that he felt I'd be a good match; however, before I could be hired, I'd need to sign a release form so they could perform a background check. The fact that he gave me this is, I think, a very good sign. At the very least, they think I might be worth the time, effort, and money to have a background check performed. That having been said of course, a place to stay is needed much more urgently. I do have something of a lead, but that most certainly does not mean I'm out of the water.
Anyway, from there I decided to go south; I recalled from earlier Google searches of the area that there was a Walgreens about a mile from there, and could technically be considered on the way back. Additionally, it happened to be across the street from an apartment complex I had been looking at, and on the way to another; this gave me the perfect opportunity to check out both. I grabbed some food and inspected the apartments, or rather more specifically checked out the neighborhood in which they were. I was quite impressed by both; depending, I might just take up residence in one of them in the near future.
I finally decided that, after this little bit of exploration, I was too worn out to continue. I returned to the CalTrain station and waited a few minutes for the next northbound train to arrive. As much as I'd originally wanted to go out and explore at other stops, my feet were begging me to return to the hostel and change my shoes out to the other pair that didn't suck to wear. :P This is exactly what I did. This is also about when I started that previous post, so I guess I'm caught up!
I'm very tired and the pain is getting pretty unbearable again, so I guess I'll be turning in. I have to be checked out by 10am, so I think I'll wake up at 9, get to the station by the 11am train, and hang out at SFO for a few hours behind security. There are potential plans for me getting to Socorro from ABQ, but they are not quite finalized; hopefully they will be by tomorrow. ^^;
SO! As I said, that morning went surprisingly well. Money was obtained, and the room was finally paid for in full. With very little time left, I made my way down to the CalTrain station to catch the southbound train, but encountered a slight problem upon my arrival: Only certain ticket kiosks sold day passes, and none of them accepted $10 bills. (This was a problem because the ticket I needed cost $13.) I asked the local establishments if they could break the bill, but none of them could without a purchase. Digging around in my pockets, I was able to scrounge up the change to buy a can of soda, quite luckily for me.
Ticket in-hand, I boarded the train and prepared for an hour-long ride to the San Antonio stop just outside Mountain View. The ride itself was pretty uneventful, except of course for the sights outside. I could write a book about how beautiful it all was, but I shall not. Sufficed to say, the region near the train tracks, at least south of San Fran proper, is kept quite clean. Additionally, I was surprised by all the companies I recognized on the way: While I cannot recall all of them, I do remember seeing VWR (A chemical distribution company) and Mondo Films. I assure you, it was quite stunning overall.
Upon arrival at my stop, I got off and crossed the tracks; while it was only 11:11am and my interview was not until 1pm, I wanted to at least make sure I could get to the area in time. The first thing I noticed about the path I had chosen was the astonishing number of "No Tresspassing" signs. While their placement made it obvious they referred to the buildings themselves, it was still unnerving. Upon closer inspection, I discovered why they were there: I had accidentally stumbled upon Hewlett-Packard's Mountain View offices. Amused, I continued my trek through an absolutely gorgeous suburban neighborhood, and finally out onto Rengstorff Avenue.
This road was about how I expected it, so there really weren't any surprises. The walk was long, but eventually I made it to the office wherein the interview was to take place, something like an hour before necessary. Knowing exactly how I wanted to spend that time, I first crossed Highway 101 and marched onto Google campus. Initially, my plan here only involved getting a picture of the place - yes, I was deliberately being a tourist - but then got a better idea. Being dressed as I was for the interview, I decided instread to take some video footage. See, I had opted to wear my SGI shirt; as such, the situation lent itself to some humor, at least in my mind.
Upon crossing back over, I noticed I was rather hungry; however, living on food stamps as I was/am, I needed to find a grocery or a Walgreens or something. I searched around the few city blocks I could in the time I had, but nothing could be found. I returned to the office hungry but nervous enough to cancel that out.
The entire office had stepped out for lunch, however, so I got to wait in front for them to get back. There was also the issue that some brand new road construction had been blocking the driveway, meaning they had all been forced to park next door. Still, they arrived on short order and the interview began.
I will not go too far into the details of the interview, as such would be unnecessary and probably rude; however, I will say that it went spectacularly. Everyone who interviewed me - including the CEO - was quite impressed by my answers. I could not answer everything, admittedly, but everything I did answer, which was most everything, was answered quite well. Their network guy was especially impressed by my knowledge of practices involving the wiring and maintenance of dedicated internet servers.
At the end, the CEO informed me that he felt I'd be a good match; however, before I could be hired, I'd need to sign a release form so they could perform a background check. The fact that he gave me this is, I think, a very good sign. At the very least, they think I might be worth the time, effort, and money to have a background check performed. That having been said of course, a place to stay is needed much more urgently. I do have something of a lead, but that most certainly does not mean I'm out of the water.
Anyway, from there I decided to go south; I recalled from earlier Google searches of the area that there was a Walgreens about a mile from there, and could technically be considered on the way back. Additionally, it happened to be across the street from an apartment complex I had been looking at, and on the way to another; this gave me the perfect opportunity to check out both. I grabbed some food and inspected the apartments, or rather more specifically checked out the neighborhood in which they were. I was quite impressed by both; depending, I might just take up residence in one of them in the near future.
I finally decided that, after this little bit of exploration, I was too worn out to continue. I returned to the CalTrain station and waited a few minutes for the next northbound train to arrive. As much as I'd originally wanted to go out and explore at other stops, my feet were begging me to return to the hostel and change my shoes out to the other pair that didn't suck to wear. :P This is exactly what I did. This is also about when I started that previous post, so I guess I'm caught up!
I'm very tired and the pain is getting pretty unbearable again, so I guess I'll be turning in. I have to be checked out by 10am, so I think I'll wake up at 9, get to the station by the 11am train, and hang out at SFO for a few hours behind security. There are potential plans for me getting to Socorro from ABQ, but they are not quite finalized; hopefully they will be by tomorrow. ^^;
